“You know him, don’t you?” Sean nodded toward the television. It took Kitt a second to focus his eyes back on the screen and not leer at the overly handsome man stepping from the closet.
“Yep, well, no. Austin Grainger went to my high school. He’s three or four years older than me. I wouldn’t say I know him.” Kitt was now fully focused on the sexiest man alive. Literally, per People Magazine.
“They say he likes the boys. Did he like you back then? Maybe you shared some of this tight ass of yours with him in that high school Ag barn you’re so proud of?” Sean patted Kitt’s ass as he walked by.
“Nah, I don’t think he’s gay. He dated the head cheerleader back then. They got caught on my dad’s land together.” Kitt’s eyes stayed glued to the television screen.
“Doesn’t mean he doesn’t like a guy now and then.” Sean looked at himself in the dresser mirror as he adjusted his tie before placing the cuff links to his wrists.
“Maybe, but I don’t think so. I never saw it,” Kitt said and stepped closer to the TV.
Austin had aged well and was still as hot as ever. There weren’t too many men better looking than Sean, but Austin easily ranked higher. When Kitt was a teenager, no other person on the planet starred in his daydreams as frequently as Austin Grainger. At fifteen years old, he’d woken up plenty of mornings all sticky wet after dreaming some of the most erotic dreams a boy could have, and they all centered on Austin.
“You know. I was thinking with all this talk of commitment and marriage...we aren’t getting any younger, you and I,” Sean said as he watched Kitt from his dresser’s mirror.
Kitt glanced up, but quickly turned his eyes back down at the screen. “Whatever, you’re the old man out of the two of us. I’m still in my twenties.”
Kitt sat down on the side of the bed to slide on his socks and boots. Whatever show Austin was on had finished airing, freeing Kitt from watching the screen. He looked back up at Sean. Something serious crossed his face, a point he was trying to make, and Kitt’s mind raced to remember what they were talking about.
“…and I sure like the way you fuck. Clearly, I do. I’ve known you for five years, and I only have to see your text, and I start backing out of whatever I’ve got going on. Maybe, we should consider making this more permanent.” Sean finally turned toward him, leaning back against the dresser and stared at Kitt.
“You don’t have to cancel plans for me. Just tell me when’s good.” Kitt tugged hard at the leather loops at the top of his boot until his heel slid inside.
“You’re missing my point, Kitt. Let me try again. There’s a bigger picture here. While you were buried deep inside my ass last night, I realized how much I like you there. I’m thirty-five, not a kid anymore. Perhaps it’s time I settle down…with you.”
The words stopped Kitt cold while he pushed the tails of his shirt into his blue jeans. He looked over at Sean with surprise evident on his face. Never, did he ever think Sean would say something like this. Sean was a stereotypical gay man. Stockbroker by day, man whore by night. Kitt narrowed his eyes and watched him closely, wondering if he could have interpreted the words incorrectly. Sean chose then to leave his spot by the dresser to come to Kitt. He wrapped his arms around Kitt and tucked his shirt in from the back.
“I see you’re as surprised by my suggestion as I am. It’s not such a crazy idea if you think about it. You’re about the hottest guy I’ve ever seen. I’ve told you over and over you’re like a smoke free version of the Marlboro man.” Sean stopped speaking and looked up at Kitt’s face while wrapping his arms tighter, tugging them closer together.
“I can see by the look in your eyes you never believe me…Kitt, it’s time for you to think better of yourself. You’re gorgeous, babe. You’ve got a strong jaw, high cheek bones, sexy full lips and that slightly crooked nose turns my shit on. You rock these Wranglers like they were made just for your body, but I digress. Say you’ll think about it.” Sean slid his hands along Kitt’s arms hanging loosely at his sides and wrapped them around his waist in the same manner he held Kitt.
They were about the same height, about the same build; muscular, but not too bulky. It felt right to hold Sean, especially when he lowered his hands down on Kitt’s ass, tugging their hips tighter together. Kitt felt Sean grow harder as he spoke, and the realization hit him: this conversation turned Sean on. He was serious.
“What about the problem of the hour and a half between our houses? I can’t come up here much more than I already do.” Kitt stopped, shocked at his own words. Was he really considering it?
“You could let me come to you.” Sean’s stare never faltered.
“Sean…” The thought made Kitt cringe. Secrets only held when nothing broke through the carefully planned lies.
“No, I see that look in your eyes. I could be discreet for a while. Keep it hidden while we decide if it’s working,” Sean said.
“Yeah, no...You don’t have a discreet bone in your body.” Kitt laughed at the thought. “No way. It’s impossible, Sean. You drive a Fisker. You look like a male model! You draw attention like honey draws flies, and you do it on purpose.”
Sean completely ignored him, holding him in place as Kitt tried to pull free.
“I was thinking. If you came up here once a week, and I came to you once a week, we could make it work until one of us gives and moves to the other.”
Okay, well that sentence just proved to Kitt this was more than a spur of the moment thought, and way more than just bumping up the regularity of their sex partnership. Sean had to have been thinking about this for a while. It left Kitt with no words.
Every part of this conversation hit him completely unexpectedly and just grew crazier by the second. He would never give up the farm, and no way would Sean fit in his world. Besides, there was a much bigger issue. Kitt had never considered long term with Sean. Hell, he’d never thought in long term about anyone. He was a confirmed bachelor for life. He knew his plight, owned it, and planned to live just like this forever. It was the exact reason he thought he and Sean were such a perfect match.
“Kitt, just think about it. I know I’m your only partner. It’s obvious, and with a little more regularity, you could be mine. I love having sex with you, that’s all I’m saying. I’ll give you a few days, but promise me you’ll think about it. And, I will be discreet. I can buy one of those big pickup trucks to drive down and see you.” Sean finally pulled away from Kitt handing him his wallet and cowboy hat before walking back across the room to the closet to grab a suit jacket.
“I have an appointment this morning. You could stay, but I know you would rather get on the road.”
Sean never said another word about commitments or long term relationships as they left his apartment. They rode the elevator down the high rise to the underground garage. Kitt had parked his truck next to Sean’s shiny, new Fisker sports car when he arrived last night. He went directly to it, and Sean followed behind him, not going to his car like he usually did when they left together.
“I love watching you back this massive vehicle into this small space. It reminds me of us having sex.” Sean chuckled and pushed Kitt against the side of the truck. He was bold this morning, leaning into Kitt for all his neighbors to see. These public displays weren’t something Kitt did, and he never got used to it when Sean made the move. It was hard to hide when you were so public with what you were doing. He couldn’t help but cut his eyes around to see who might be watching. Sean gripped his jaw, flipping his head back to look only at him.
“It’s okay to be gay, Kitt. I don’t know why you won’t just go with what’s natural for you. Think about what I said. We connect well together, and you’d be good on my arm. I’m getting a promotion to Senior Vice President. You wouldn’t have to work yourself into an early grave out there, trying to make your dad’s place what it once was a hundred years ago. Promise me you’ll think about it.” Sean leaned in and placed his lips on Kitt’s for a quick chaste kiss before he turned and w
alked away. “Now drive away in that big ass truck. I love to watch you go.”
Kitt didn’t say a word. He clicked the key remote to unlock the doors before he used the side step to lift himself inside to the driver’s seat. He sat still completely shocked at the turn of events between them. Kitt searched his frantic brain, but couldn’t figure out what happened in their night to cause Sean to think in terms of exclusivity – with him. It wasn’t just that, because hell, Kitt already was exclusive to Sean. He lived out in the country. Three thousand people lived in a sixty square mile radius of the farm, and as best he could tell, not one of them was a gay man. Hell, if there was someone, he’d be finding a way to fuck them along with Sean.
“Exclusive…damn it,” Kitt muttered driving from the underground garage. This was going to fuck their relationship up. Kitt didn’t want an obligation and he sure didn’t want to explain Sean’s presence to anyone down on the farm. It had taken him a long time to earn the respect of his ranch hands after his father’s sudden heart attack. He’d just now proved he could run the place; that everything he’d learned in college, the progressive way of farming and ranching could work better than his dad’s old school ways. If his employees learned the truth about whose bed his boots had been under…Yeah, no way! Kitt knew he could never come out in the agriculture world. The heavy hitters of the industry overflowed with rednecks and homophobes. No way could he ever come out.
Kitt pushed, no shoved, Sean’s idea out of his mind. He decided he would deal with it later. If he needed to find a new fuck buddy, fine, he would. Dallas was full of gay men. Maybe, switching to Houston or Austin might produce better results, a change of pace. Proximity wise, they were further away from the farm, even less chance of him getting caught. Surely, he still had connections close to Houston. His alma mater was only about an hour away from there. Besides, even with everything else against them, relationships required a time commitment to be successful, and time wasn’t something Kitt had to spare right now.
Kitt easily navigated his oversized pick-up through the crowded downtown streets of Dallas, not letting himself consider Sean’s proposal any longer – his mind was made up. He’d find a way to tell Sean ‘no’ and keep them going just like they had been, or end it all together. His hip vibrated. It reminded Kitt he’d silenced the phone the previous night. He palmed it at a stop light.
‘I know you better than anyone does. We’ve been together too long. We can make it work. I’m willing to stay hidden for a while, and having sex with you a couple of times a week will hold me over, I’m sure. I love our sex…sucking you, swallowing you…don’t deny us. I’ll keep things like we have them for now, but I’ll be working my way in that direction. You’re suddenly very important to me. Actually Kitt, you have been for some time now, I’ve just kept it quiet.’
Kitt didn’t respond but scanned the message a couple of times until the stop light turned green. He turned up the volume on the radio and tossed the phone in the cup holder it usually rested in. One thing he knew without question, he didn’t have time for all this right now. If Sean was willing to give him time, he’d take it and pray Sean changed his mind. Kitt liked their sex too, always had, but no way was he ready for any sort of relationship. That wasn’t going to change, not for anyone.
As he wound his way through the extreme downtown traffic, Kitt forced his thoughts away from Sean to focus on monumentally more important things. Like his new colt. Or rather the prospect of his new colt. Kitt had taken out loans and invested in four registered mares. Over the next few weeks, the first of four artificially inseminated quarter horses would give birth on the farm. His father had only run cattle on the ranch, but Kitt took a chance. All four mares had been successfully impregnated and were stabled on the farm right now. If things worked out like he hoped, their newborn foals could easily sell for thousands and thousands of dollars, changing everything for him, his stepmom and two little sisters.
Kitt felt much more on solid ground mentally. No, personal relationships meant very little to him right now. He stood on the edge. He needed to stay focused and on target. One wrong move could ruin everything. The sounds of the Kidd Kraddick Morning Show filled his mind and he ignored everything as he hit Interstate 20 to make the long drive home.
Chapter 3
The newly built, single story ranch style house sat close to dead center of the fifteen hundred acres Austin had purchased a couple of months ago under the disguise of one of his obscure companies. He knew he couldn’t stay hidden forever, but the first twenty-four hours of solitude rocked. He just wasn’t of a mindset to let it go easily.
The original plan had been to throw the media off his tracks by flying north to the Cape Cod area after the Academy Awards. He’d stay a few weeks before secretly making his way back here. As it turned out, he couldn’t wait to be back home, and came straight to Texas. He arrived yesterday about noon, and as he’d driven up the property, the modernized architecture of his new home blew him away. He’d sat through plenty of conference calls and planning sessions over the last few months, but to see the structure come to life was more than he ever expected.
Nothing was ready for his arrival. The compact, yet spectacular house he had built was in the final stages of completion. The touch up work was just now being done. The house combined a beautiful blend of pine, stone and brick. The workers diligently hammered away at the oversized tin roof covering the large wraparound porches on both the front and the back of the house.
Austin instructed his driver to pick up a blow up mattress for him to sleep on until his furniture began to arrive over the next few days. He planned to have everything arrive on a slow scale so not to draw too much attention to who might be taking up residence in this small farming community.
Austin opted for a three bedroom, one-story ranch style house. The rooms were large and designed to be used, nothing like the show places he’d lived over the last ten years. The one thing he loved most about his new home was the large floor to ceiling windows. They ran the entire length of the living room along the back of the house. He could see everything for miles and miles and would never feel caged again.
The icing on his cake was the completely covered, full length back porch complete with a fireplace and a stone walkway leading down to a barely started deck and brand new swimming pool. Austin loved to swim, but rarely got the time or chance. All that would be changing now.
To the left of the back door, a few hundred feet away from the house, sat a brand new horse stable about four times the size of his house. Apparently, in today’s farming world, horses and cattle no longer mixed. The cattle barn loomed straight out in the distance, much further away. Both sported the same design as his home. The place was the most beautiful he’d ever seen. In his heart, he knew that wasn’t true, but he was so happy to be here, alone in all this quiet.
Yesterday, during his first meeting with his new ranch foreman, Austin learned that several hundred head of mixed breed cattle were currently en route to the farm. He’d also purchased five purebred appaloosas scheduled to arrive later next week. His new ranch foreman, Mike Cisneros, had a plan for the farm, and after he got past the initial shock of finding out the new ranch owner wasn’t actually a rancher from the north, he sat Austin down and explained it all to him.
Mike was young. Newly graduated from Texas A&M and ready to put his new agriculture degree to good use. To Austin, he seemed to be a kid, but he came highly recommended by the previous land owner. Mike appeared more than ready to bring his expertise to the farm. The new foreman took his job seriously and wanted the place to thrive. To Mike’s credit, he’d only been momentarily startled to see Austin.
From the beginning, Austin gave Mike carte blanche on everything. All Austin required of Mike was a productive working farm that he could jump in and work when he felt like getting his hands dirty. Well, he cared about that and the iron clad confidentiality agreement he’d made everyone in his employment sign. He’d also included the same confidentialit
y agreement in the contract when he bought this land. If he ran into the neighbors, the contract prohibited them from talking about who lived here.
Austin installed security cameras around the entire place. His security guards posed as ranch hands. Housed in a newly built building on the southeast end of the ranch’s property line, they monitored every angle of the farm. The outside of the building looked very much like every other building on the property, but the inside housed a hi-tech security control panel that rivaled that of NASA’s in its ability to monitor every inch of his land. No one knew they were here, including Mike, until yesterday.
To help with the oddity of being so fully staffed without much more than a couple of horses on the property, the ranch hands spent their time fencing the place, separating the different pastures. They also installed more surveillance devices. Mike unwittingly helped the security team by designing a pasture system perfect for rotating cattle and horses and growing hay. The fences provided extra surveillance from every angle.
Austin’s persona for the area, what all of his staff were required to say if asked, was that he was a wealthy older Northerner who never planned to live on the ranch, but might visit once or twice a year when he felt like playing cowboy. His family bought the land as an investment. Mike ran the show, and that’s all the town needed to know.
Austin hadn’t been back in this part of the world since he’d left right out of high school. It was the biggest reason he’d chosen to come back in the first place. No one would suspect it. He’d never spoken highly of the years he grew up on a farm.
The back breaking hard work and hot summer sun had pushed him away to begin with. Yet, he knew these roads like the back of his hand. The wide open range allowed his security team to easily locate and apprehend anyone coming in while letting Austin roam freely within its borders. They all went out of their way to make Austin fully secure here. He had check points installed and monitored along the only two routes leading up to his farm. To get this far back, a person would either have to come through town or come in the back through miles and miles of nothing but rugged terrain. That would require a trained tracker and none of the soft paparazzi he knew could tough it out in the Texas wilderness.
Texas Pride Page 3